A/N: To the guest reviewing (Erin): first of all thank you so much! and secondly, don't worry, I'm planning on all of my homophobic idiot guys being OC's so 8) also ily everyone reviewing/following/favouriting~ any spelling mistakes are due to me being half asleep while proof-reading this. I might come back and edit some parts but we'll see.

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Jason waited until they were around the corner of the hallway before he started talking.

"So, what was up with that?" He asked, nudging Leo in the ribs with a smirk.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Superman."

Jason raised his brows in an unimpressed manner, turning around and walking backwards so he could face Leo. "Sure you do. You only met that guy, what, today?"

Leo nodded, unsure of where Jason was going with this. He usually didn't like it when Jason tried to read people, specifically Leo himself, because after he'd hung out with Piper for a long enough time he'd actually gotten pretty good at it. Not that he'd gotten that much out of Leo – ever since the incident, he'd carefully tucked everything deep inside his mind, only to dwell on when he was alone, and kept the positive cover on all the time. That cover hadn't fallen off in a long time, not after that one late night talk with Piper.

Except today when he saw the look on Nico Di Angelo's face and recognized it as the same look that stared back at Leo from the bathroom mirror each morning. The look of tiredness and anger, of frustration and sadness. And lies. Granted, he'd only seen it for a brief second, but it had been there regardless. That'd been the moment when his own carefully crafted mask had slipped away too, revealing the dark thoughts that surrounded him all the time. He might be wrong, but there was something that told Leo Nico might be able to understand him.

But Leo wasn't going to harass him on the first day they met, so it was better not to think about it at all.

"So you met today, and you already look like you're fighting like an old married couple? I mean, I know you had disagreements with Calypso, but dude, you should've felt the tension there. So, what was up?" Jason pressed on, brows still up in his hair line.

Leo brushed the haunted face of Nico from his mind, grinning. "Not much. He was just withholding some information, nothing important," he said and relaxed when Jason seemed to not want him to elaborate. "And dude, don't bring Calypso up, alright? Too soon, man."

It really wasn't. Calypso had been fun to hang with, and fun to pretend to be in love with. But when she'd left one morning a few years ago, leaving behind a note and a forgotten hair brush, it didn't really brake his heart. No matter how much he'd tried to have some sort of attachment to her that was more than just 'you're pretty cool', it simply wasn't there. She'd been beautiful, but more in a scientific sense and less in a personal way.

When Leo really thought about it (not too often, though), he'd never really been in love. There'd been crushes, and short relationships, but nothing that made his heart flutter or stomach drop. Nothing lasting. Leo sometimes wondered what to make out of it, but then decided it didn't matter. If he one day fell in love, he did. And if he didn't, then that was that.

Jason grimaced, brows furrowing. "Right, sorry." He turned back to walk next to Leo, falling into step beside him. They walked in silence for a few minutes, passing doors and turning corners. Finally, after door number 321, Leo felt it was only appropriate to fill the quietness with something, because not saying anything was driving him mad.

"So, how are you and Piper doing?"

A happy (if Leo were to say blissful he wouldn't be exaggerating) smile broke on Jason's face, his eyes brightening. "Oh, we're great. We had our two year anniversary about a month ago, remember?"

What Leo remembered was Jason calling him in panic at two in the morning, rambling about how it was indeed their anniversary and he had no plans whatsoever, and could Leo please maybe help him out because Piper was going to hang him if she found out he forgot about their anniversary? (Leo had helped, and Jason still owed him one for that.) "Yeah, I do," he said out loud.

"Yeah, so that was awesome, right? She's awesome too, but you know that. There's just all these little things that I love about her, you know? She's just so..." Jason trailed off, and while Leo wasn't completely sure how Piper was just so, he didn't ask Jason to continue. Soon they arrived at Jason and Piper's room, Jason knocking quickly before opening the door.

As soon as Leo stepped in, he had armful of Piper in his hands. She hugged him tight, her hair falling to his back and her hands thrown around his neck. Leo hugged her back, letting his forehead rest on her shoulder. "You okay?" She whispered to his ear, low enough for Jason not to hear. She always asked him that when they met after summer, had done so ever since Leo had told her about his problems and past. "Just fine," he whispered back before letting her go and taking a step back. She was smiling brightly, looking exactly like she had two and a half months ago. "It's good to see you, Leo," she said softly and Leo smiled. "You too, Pipes."

Jason coughed, slowly wandering back towards the door. "I'll leave you too to gossip for a while, alright? I'll go check if Reyna's here yet," he said and stepped out, the door falling shut behind him.

Piper began talking as soon as he was out, dragging Leo to sit down with her on one the beds. "So, who's your roommate? Is she cute? Is it a she? Is he cute? Give names and details, please," she asked in rapid speed, and Leo was reminded once again why he loved having her as a friend so much. He could tell her anything knowing that she wouldn't judge him.

"He's, uh, Nico," he began and she grinned. "He seems cool. I mean... I like him." Leo wondered whether to tell her about Nico's depression or not, but decided it wasn't his place to share the information even if it was to Piper.

She grinned even wider. "So you think you'll be alright with this... Nico? I don't want to worry about you too much, do I?"

Leo thought for a moment, the memory of Nico's face flashing in his mind.

"Yeah," he said, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I'll be alright."

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